With the increase of networked (both wired and wireless) and distributed computing environments (e.g., the Internet, mobile or cellular networks, office internets or intranets, etc.) the need to transfer digital content between computing devices has increased markedly. Commensurate with the increased need to transfer this digital content, the size of the data that it is desired to transfer has also increased. This combination of factors presents difficulties with respect to the sending, delivery and reception of such digital content.
One way of sending such digital content is using facsimile. A facsimile (fax) comprises a document in a digital image format. The document is associated with metadata that specifies a destination with respect to the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). Thus, typically for at least a portion of the transmission, the document is transmitted over the PSTN. Faxing provides a secure, traceable and non-repudiable mechanism for content delivery and can be particularly useful in business environments.
Faxing, however, has limitations. For example, conventional fax machines can only transmit black and white files with limited resolution in a specific format such as the Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). In many cases, people wish to transmit digital content in other formats, including for example, .jpg or .pdf. Faxing systems may not allow the transmission or attachment of these types of digital content.
While digital content may currently be sent between users the methods for doing so do not meet the need for a secure, traceable or non-repudiable method for sending digital content as is currently desired. What is desired, then, are versatile systems and methods for the sending, delivery and reception of digital content.